Jingmei Temple Introduction
Ji Ying Temple, located on Jingmei Old Street, was originally built within the bamboo fence of Jingwei and enshrines the guardian deities of the people from Anxi County, Quanzhou, Fujian Province—King Zhang Xun and Duke Xu Yuan. Due to bad feng shui, the temple was relocated to Lower Jingwei Street in 1867 (the 6th year of the Tongzhi era), which is the current location of the temple. Four hundred years ago, the people from Anxi migrated to Taipei, with most of them being tea farmers. They chose the humid hills of Wenshan to grow tea, bringing along their local deities, including King Zhang Xun, Duke Xu Yuan, and Master Qing Shui. At that time, the main surnames of the Anxi people were Gao, Zhang, and Lin. As time went on, the population gradually increased, and the cultivated land expanded from Jingmei to Muzha, Shenkeng, and Shiding. Naturally, the number of people paying homage to the local deities of Anxi County also grew, leading to the expansion of Ji Ying Temple into three locations. The Gao Clan Ji Ying Temple at Jingmei Market is one of them. This site embodies the historical sense of Jingmei Old Street, is a designated third-class historical site, and boasts a solemn appearance and interior with many wall decorations and exquisite stone carvings. Additionally, the corridors have a striking wooden aesthetic, with wooden windows and structures exuding an ancient atmosphere that blends harmoniously with Jingmei Old Street.
